title: The acoustic startle response in inbred Roman high- and low-avoidance rats.
abstract: To investigate the emotional reactions of two rat strains selectively bred for good and poor two-way avoidance acquisition (RHA/Verh and RLA/Verh), male animals of both strains were tested in an acoustic startle response test. They received 40 acoustic stimuli followed by 10 electric foot shocks and another 30 acoustic stimuli. RLA/Verh rats showed a significantly higher startle response compared to RHA/Verh animals, indicating a stronger emotional reaction to acoustic stimuli. In addition, the former showed a stronger response to foot shocks. Combined with earlier findings, we conclude that selection for two-way avoidance learning does not result in cognitive defects in the RLA/Verh strain but, rather, in stronger emotional reactions to fearful stimuli.
authors.affiliation: Institut für Anatomie, Universität Magdeburg, Germany. Herbert.Schwegler@Medizin.Uni-Magdeburg.de
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Schwegler
authors.forename: P K
authors.initials: PK
authors.lastname: Pilz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koch
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fendt
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Linke
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Driscoll
mesh_terms: D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001362:Avoidance Learning; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D013216:Reflex, Startle / Q000235:genetics*